The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart on Friday, pulling back from a near nine-month high hit earlier in the day, as domestic data showed a surprise decline in May retail sales and the greenback broadly climbed. The value of Canadian retail trade dipped by 0.1% versus an estimated 0.3% increase, as unusually bad weather hit sales of food, drink and clothing.
At 4:10 p.m. (2010 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% lower at 1.3060 to the greenback, or 76.57 US cents. The currency's weakest level of the session was 1.3110, while it touched its strongest since October 25, at 1.3016. For the week, the loonie was down 0.2%. The Canadian dollar lost ground on Friday even as the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose. US crude oil futures settled 0.6% higher at $55.63 a barrel on rising tensions between the United States and Iran.